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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25382797">Everyone Needs a Hobby</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodelf/pseuds/woodelf'>woodelf</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Floofy!verse [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pressed Fairies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:26:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>792</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25382797</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodelf/pseuds/woodelf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumpelstiltskin really, really doesn't like fairies.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Floofy!verse [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836043</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Everyone Needs a Hobby</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspired by "Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book".</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>“Rumpelstiltskin!”</p><p>Rumpelstiltskin paused as he entered his shop, the note in Belle’s voice suggestive of someone who has just discovered muddy footprints on her freshly-washed floor. His mind raced, trying to think of anything he might have done to displease her.</p><p>“Yes, dear?” He let the shop door close behind him and approached her warily.</p><p>“I found a book while I was cleaning.” She picked up a large, leather-bound volume with ragged edges off of the counter.</p><p>“And you’d like to have it?” he guessed, his face clearing.</p><p>“No, I don’t think I would.” She turned the book to face him and opened it at random. “You wouldn’t know anything about this, would you?”</p><p>Rum swallowed hard. “Er…”</p><p>Belle turned another page, and Rum was torn between squirming and thinking that the book’s contents had held up rather well through the centuries.</p><p>“These <em>are</em> fairies, aren’t they?” she demanded. “<em>Pressed</em>  fairies?”</p><p>“Well, as a matter of fact, some are goblins, and there’s a pixie or two…” His voice trailed off when he saw her expression. “It was after I lost Bae,” he tried to explain. “I blamed the Blue Fairy, and one day when I was working in my tower, a fairy flew in the window. Just a lesser or garden-variety fairy, nothing special, and it was flying around, irritating me, and when it landed right on the open pages of a book, I just…slammed it closed. And it –” he discarded the words ‘squished so nicely’ – “made such a good imprint that I thought it would be useful to collect more. For identification and research purposes. Like a butterfly collection. See, I labeled each one with its name and any pertinent information,” he pointed out hopefully.</p><p>“That doesn’t make it any better. And butterfly collections are horrid, too.” She glared sternly at him.</p><p>“You’re quite right, of course,” he said meekly. “But I wasn’t in a good state of mind at the time, and I needed something to distract me. It was a long time ago. Can you forgive me?” Keeping his head down, he looked pleadingly up at her through his lashes and saw the instant she relented.</p><p>“If you promise to get rid of it. I don’t ever want to see it again.”</p><p>“Of course, love.” Relieved, Rum nodded and reached for the book, but Belle held onto it.</p><p>“Um, I just wondered…you said they weren’t all fairies…” She laid the book back down on the counter and leafed through the pages at the back, her cheeks reddening when she found the one she was looking for. “This one, with the –” She groped for the right words.</p><p>“Disproportionately large genitalia?” He suggested, smirking.</p><p>Belle’s blush deepened as she looked at the grotesque male figure and she settled for nodding.</p><p>“Quite frankly, I never was sure about that one,” he admitted. “Rude little bugger, if I remember correctly.”</p><p>“Ah.” Belle closed the book firmly and handed it to him. “No more pressed fairies. Or anything else,” she warned him.</p><p>Rum set the book negligently aside and ran his hands up her arms to her shoulders, pulling her into him. “What about pressed sheets?” he asked, voice low and husky. “with you stretched out naked beneath me?”</p><p>Belle’s jaw worked soundlessly for a few moments. Finally she cleared her throat. “I think we can allow pressed sheets. Nothing living, I meant.”</p><p>“Ah, good.” He tilted his head and cupped the back of her neck in his large, warm palm, claiming her lips in a long, sweet kiss.</p><p>“What brought that on?” she asked breathlessly when they finally parted, loosening her grip on the two handfuls of his suit that she’d found herself grasping.</p><p>“I think it was seeing you flustered.” He grinned. “You’ve been cleaning in here all afternoon. Ready to take a break? We could close up the shop, have an early dinner, and then…” His dark eyes spoke volumes of what might follow dinner.</p><p>“Am I to be your new distraction, Rumpelstiltskin?” she teased.</p><p>“Well, every man needs a hobby.” He went to fetch her coat and turn the sign on the door to “closed”, Belle laughing as he helped her into her coat. “I can collect your kisses.” He brushed one over her temple. “Your smiles, your laughter. Would that please my lady better?”</p><p>She turned in his arms, her expression soft, and ran her fingers through his hair. “It would please me very much.” She kissed him, briefly, then pulled back, her cheeks dimpling, and took his hand. “Home, then. And dinner. And afterwards…” She looked at him, his eyes alight with love and happiness, and rejoiced that she had been able to give him that. “Afterwards you can show me those pressed sheets of yours.”</p>
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